


i'll keep you safe(again and again)

by Riley_Ludicrous



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Pirates, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22143772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riley_Ludicrous/pseuds/Riley_Ludicrous
Summary: In the first life, Seonghwa just wants to escape.  By the last one, he just wants to stay with Yeosang without all the heart break.
Relationships: Kang Yeosang/Park Seonghwa
Kudos: 9





	i'll keep you safe(again and again)

They’re pirates—they have the whole ocean as their home, the creatures of the deep as their animal companions, each other as captive audiences to each performance and hypothesis and whim.It’s a glorious life to live and Seonghwa has already made up his mind by the time one of them rolls over his window sill, silent and undetectable except that Seonghwa couldn’t get to sleep earlier and has been sitting in his bed, staring out at the stars, all night.The man notices that he’s awake as soon as he comes in, and his eyes widen to the near-circles in shock.

There have been whispers up and down the coast about kidnapped and ransomed nobles, merchants stolen from, castles burned down, and Seonghwa has been told to be on guard, but he’s also heard rumors during his escapades to the market place that the nobles are always returned relatively unharmed, that the merchants are always corrupt and cruel, that the castles hold dark secrets, so Seonghwa isn’t so concerned for his own safety.

He had spared a thought for his younger sister—what she will go through if he never returns might be as bad as what he’s endured—but his father always favored her.Even though she’d gain responsibility, she might also have more support than he had ever had.

He looks at the pirate in front of his window, and he thinks to be kidnapped wouldn’t be so bad a fate, to be recruited, even better, so he gets up and carefully extends his hand, like he’s making a business proposal.The pirate lends him a bemused smirk and takes it, motioning at the window behind him.

“Can I pack myself a bag first?” he asks, barely audible.The pirate nods.

.

The pirate, it turns out, is named Yeosang, and he teaches Seonghwa everything he needs to learn.Captain Hongjoong accepts him into the crew with little fanfare, and Seonghwa’s father spread a rumor that he died, murdered in his bed by a pirate.Seonghwa wonders if the funeral comes with a good party and moves on.

Yeosang doesn’t just teach him the ins and out of the ship, but also of himself and more invitingly, Yeosang.The whole crew knows he’s a nobleman’s son, but most of them don’t learn the whole of it until much later, and he lets them judge him by his interactions with them and not by his past. 

“I’m so scared,” he admits to Yeosang in the middle of the night, arms and legs entangled together.“What if someone sees me, and,” he sucks in a breath, and Yeosang pulls him in tighter, “and what if they get it back to him somehow, and what if he—“

Yeosang cuts him off with a peck on the lips.“Even if they do, Seongie, and even if he tries something, we’ll protect you.I’ll keep you safe.”

Seonghwa takes in another shuddering breath and nods.

.

“What are other nobles like?” he asks Yeosang when they’re on cooking duty together.Yeosang laughs and holds up a ladle of the stew, so Seonghwa can try it.The ladle is too big to simply bite from, so he pulls a piece of meat from it and eats it. 

“A lot of them are brats, especially at first.In the end, they’re nicer, but maybe that’s just because they want to go home.”

Seonghwa swallows his food and considers the statement.“Was I ever a brat?” he wonders out loud.

“Nah,” Yeosang says, “you were pretty easy to get along with; you were just quieter at first.You were still learning us then, and you’re more confident now.”

Wooyoung comes in and catches the last sentence and a half.“You’re like a mom, now, Seongie-hyung,” he says, giggling, “except I don’t think Yeosang would like to think of you parentally.”

.

He finally tells the crew when they’re goofing around after dinner.He thinks they already have a clue, so he’s not incredibly worried about their responses, only a little bit.He leans in close to Yeosang for comfort anyway.

“My father used to pretend I didn’t exist,” he says softly, but the others hear him and stop talking, “when I was very young.I reminded him too much of my mother, the servants said.Then when I was older, he married again, and my sister was born.Her mother let me hold her once, but my when my father saw it, he took me away and beat me.He told me that I shouldn’t touch her since I was cursed.”He looks up, and the others all have mixed sadness and anger on their faces. 

Mingi looks caught between confusion and being taken aback.“Did he think _you_ killed your—“ he cuts himself off. 

Wooyoung looks distraught and tearfully reassures him him that he could _never_ be cursed, and Jongho promised to beat up his father if he ever meets him, and they all end up in a giant cuddle pile with Seonghwa in the middle.Yeosang whispers in his ear that he’s far too much of a blessing to ever be cursed.

.

_“Even if,”_ Yeosang had said all that time ago, because why would Seonghwa’s father ever go through the trouble of getting him back?It wasn’t a debilitating and hurtful thought but a comforting one.An unfortunately deceptive one.

They get attacked by a mercenary ship in the middle of the day, and isn’t it funny that Seonghwa’s life began in the middle of the night?

The soldiers have come only for Seonghwa, but none of the crew will give him up easily.All across the deck, Seonghwa’s friends are fighting, distracting, but it’s still five men against him and Yeosang, and they don’t seem to care if they bring him back injured, and they care even less if Yeosang dies.

One stabs Yeosang through the gut, and the other pirates have won. their battles too late.They join Seonghwa, but their victory comes long after Yeosang is past the point of saving. 

He drops down next to the dying man, and Yeosang smiles weakly at him, and he hates his father then more than he ever did before. 

“I kept you safe,” Yeosang wheezes out.Seonghwa sniffs and nods. 

Later, he kills his father himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I came up with this while waiting for the Answer MV to drop, and idk if I'll finish it?? but I'll try. for now I'm sorry about this Yeosang. Leave kudos and a comment! I'll definitely respond!


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